The Hi, I'm Peter Adamson, and you're listening to the History of Philosophy podcast, brought to you with the support of King's College London and the Lever Hume Trust, online at

W.W. history of philosophy dot net. Today's episode, Down to Earth, Aristotle on

Substance. A few years ago Aristotle on substance.

A few years ago I had the chance to visit the Vatican Museum.

Apparently being Pope gives you good opportunities to collect art because the Vatican houses a number of very impressive objects.

The thing I most wanted to see was Raphael's painting The School of Athens,

which depicts several of the philosophers we have looked at in this series of podcasts.

In the center, of course, are Plato and Aristotle.

I've used that part of the painting on the podcast website for this episode, in fact.

Anyway, I was very excited to see this work in person so you can

imagine how I felt when we came into the room to find it walled off from view as it was

undergoing restoration. I'm a trained philosopher so my reason should be in charge of my soul making me immune to such disappointments.

But sadly this would be one of the areas where my philosophical training has been inadequate.

So I glared petulently at the plywood blocking my view, until finally my companions

dragged me off to see some chapel with a decorated ceiling, which I'm sorry to say did not feature either Plato or Aristotle.

In the painting that I didn't get to see, Raphael depicts Plato pointing up towards the heavens, an apparent allusion to his theory of forms. Aristotle, meanwhile, is painted holding his hand flat to the

ground. Usually this is seen as representing a traditional

contrast drawn between Plato and Aristotle. Whereas Plato seems to

encourage us to turn away from the world towards an ideal realm, Aristotle is interested in the here

and now.

He's the sort of man who devotes many hours to biological pursuits.

He delights in dissecting fish to see how their organs are arranged.

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